Two men accidentally shoot themselves in Fauquier

Two men in Fauquier County injured themselves with firearms in separate incidents last week.

On Jan. 17 around noon, a man at Range 82, a gun range on Midland Road, shot himself in the leg. According to emergency radio traffic, the man had shot himself through his holster. An ambulance took him to Mary Washington Hospital for his injury.

In another incident, at about midnight Jan. 18, a resident of Kennedy Road near Vint Hill also shot himself in the leg with a .45 caliber, full metal jacket round. According to radio traffic, the man believed there was an intruder in his home. An ambulance took him to Fauquier Hospital and Fauquier sheriff’s deputies are investigating the incident.

The injuries happened in advance of “Gun Appreciation Day,” a national rally held Jan. 19 proposed by Political Media Inc. president Larry Ward. Ward urged gun owners to gather at firearms stores and gun ranges to protest President Barack Obama’s calls for increased firearm restrictions after the Dec. 14 school shootings in Sandy Hook, Conn.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives offers the following firearms safety tips:

-Treat every firearm as if it were loaded.
-Always keep the muzzle of the firearm pointed in a safe direction.
-Always keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard unless you intend to fire the weapon.
-Wear appropriate ear and eye protection when discharging the firearm.
-If there are children in the home, use child safety locks or other commercially available locking mechanisms on your firearms and/or keep your firearms locked in a secure location accessible to adults only. Keep your ammunition locked in a secure location away from the firearms.
-Familiarize yourself with and obey all Federal, State, and local laws regarding the purchase, possession, carrying, use, storage, and disposition/sale of firearms.

To buy a gun and shoot it, you are not required to have training, as in a hunter safety course. If you haven’t previously acquired a hunting license and wish to do so, you are mandated to take a hunter safety course.

Had these bone heads remembered “Always keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard unless you intend to fire the weapon” they would be enjoying Gun Appreciation Day.

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